Everyday Esthers – How One Person Can Silence the Chaos
Our world feels topsy-turvy and our culture often makes little sense, but history shows us that individual actions can create powerful ripple effects, even in the darkest moments.
Our world feels topsy-turvy and our culture often makes little sense, but history shows us that individual actions can create powerful ripple effects, even in the darkest moments.
For Nashville worship leader Jasmine Christmas Brady, music isn’t just a career—it’s a multigenerational calling woven into the fabric of her identity. Surrounded by her encouraging musical family, Jasmine knew she wanted to pursue music at the age of three. As she grew up, her mother became one of the main acts with the Gaither Homecoming tour, selling out 20,000-seat arenas across the country.
The spires, stained glass windows, and vaulted ceilings with unparalleled artwork were meant to draw our eyes and hearts heavenward in worship of God. Yet now, in many of the churches, the gaze is now downward onto smartphones, with long lines of tourists missing the true reason these houses of God were created.
We’re all living like emotional sponges right now, soaking up everyone’s opinion, everyone’s drama, everyone’s hot take on literally everything. And as someone who needs medication just to slow my brain down enough to think instead of react, let me tell you: this is not sustainable. Are you feeling it, too? We’re in the middle of a full-blown emotional real estate crisis and it’s frankly exhausting to say the least.
When we stood at the altar and promised to love in “sickness and health; for better or for worse,” I think we all secretly hoped and prayed there would be very little sickness and not much we’d call “worse.” So, what can a couple do when life gets tough to help them “TEAM Up” to stay in Love?
The truth is, we can’t succeed alone. We must interact with editors, designers, publishers, and others. Once our work is in print, we connect with marketers, readers, and the public. Once you identify your personality, you can discover how helpful it is to know the personality of your event planner, publisher, and others you work with.
I like pink, but on this particular September day, the shade of pink wasn’t one I’d choose—a tie-in-the-front top that came with very specific instructions that made vulnerability a mandate—not the option.
This issue is an invitation to go deeper. Beyond surface appearances, beyond polite answers. We’re stepping into authenticity—into stories that don’t hide the scars, but reveal them as places where God’s light shines through. Inside these pages, you’ll discover women who share honestly from their journeys.
By the time I was a sophomore in college, the verdict landed like a sledgehammer: decades in a maximum security prison for an innocent man. Our family, already fractured by my mother’s alcoholism and abuse, splintered further. “It would have been easier if he had committed the crime,” I whispered to myself, the weight of his innocence crushing me.
“What did you say?” I asked. The child pressed her fingers into soft pink clay and repeated, “It’s a good day to be a teacher.” I couldn’t quite agree...